Straight to the top

Welcome to Idealog Weekly, the free email newsletter for New Zealand commercial creatives, entrepreneurs and anyone rich with ideas.

There must be many homesick Kiwis in New Zealand—my inbox is full of people wanting an HforHome t-shirt. We picked Andy Clover who picked ‘Ma is White’ and Richelle Gillett who picked the ‘Sweet’ t-shirt, saying: “I hope it picks me!” Richelle, if it wasn’t an inanimate object not conducive to rhyme or reason, we’re sure it would. Send us your sizes.

Straight to the top

Goodbye Sir Ed, you were the first but you won’t be the last. Another gutsy Kiwi, The Alpine Wasp, will be first helicopter to land on the peak of Everest this year. The remote controlled machine has been designed to rescue any bastards who’ve been knocked off.

W Ank

Ank Air has a new feature on all its planes—an un-strategically placed W. Why the Turkish Airline underwent a re-brand is clear—World Focus Airlines isn’t the most memorable of names. There are times, however, when being forgettable is better for business. AirSpace is also inviting you to share other tragic re-brands you have burning a hole in your memory.

Box of tricks

Say you got a new flatmate who moved in all their bedroom furniture in a single box. Would you think they were a) recently homeless, b) recently divorced, or c) had just packed their bed, wardrobe, desk chair, shelves and chest of drawers really well. While c) seems the most unlikely—and actually is—it is also entirely possible, thanks to the clever Casulo cube. So next time someone moves into your house in five minutes get their rent from them in advance—they could be gone just as quickly.

In the good books

HarperCollins has decided to give its books away to encourage people to buy them. The publisher will offer free electronic editions on its website, so people can read the entire book onscreen if they want to before committing to a purchase. This ploy could well sell good books, but what will become of all the crap ones that sell on account of their pretty covers? And if we don’t have crap books what will become of Hollywood? Clearly HarperCollins hasn’t thought this through.

Talking through the wall

If you’ve always secretly fancied having a go at tagging a wall, but you’re much too much of an upstanding citizen, here’s a solution: pay someone else to do it. In Palestine. For €30, you can get your message spray painted on The Wall of Palestine—you’ll even get three digital photos of the handiwork you inspired. Best to dispose of the evidence though.

Good times ahead

Hillary, Obama. Hillary, Obama. Hillary, Hillary! Obama, Obama! It’s easy to forget right now that the Democrats won’t actually be running against each other in the upcoming US election. It’s also easy to forget that no matter whether a black man or, gasp, a woman wins the Primaries, it is a white male who is jiggling his change, ready buy a couple of beers for his mates on the Supreme court. Ah, you’ve got to laugh. Via Fake Steve Jobs

Echoes of Art Deco

It’s unusual to have something good come out of a major earthquake, but the quaint charms of Art Deco Napier proves it’s possible. The city is celebrating its annual Art Deco Weekend till Sunday, so if you’ve always fancied yourself as a bit of a flapper get flapping.

Who says Shakespeare is fast disappearing from our lives? Turns out he’s alive and well in Invercargill and he’s been there for seven years. Shakespeare in the Park, February 16 and 17.

Quote of the week

“If the operator feels sick, they can look away from the screen. With the old technology, if you got sick in an operator helmet you’d never put one on again.”

—Trevor Rogers, Air Everest

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